District Voting for Anaheim Council to Be Proposed : Government: Latino groups back move, claiming current at-large system limits access.

Citing Anaheim’s fast-paced growth and increasing cultural diversity, Councilman William D. Ehrle said he would introduce a proposal today to establish single-member council districts in an attempt to make municipal government more responsive to local residents.

The plan has long been supported by Latino groups who claim that current at-large elections provide little access to the local political system. And Ehrle said Monday that he hopes that the council will agree to place the issue before the voters as early as November.

The councilman’s call comes slightly more than a month after the Orange County Hispanic Committee for Fair Elections asked city leaders to replace its at-large system with district elections.

Amin David, committee co-chairman, said Monday that he and other committee members met with Ehrle two weeks ago in seeking a council sponsor for the plan.

“Let’s put it on the ballot and see where it falls,” David said. “Hopefully, (Ehrle) will find additional support.”

Latinos, who make up about one-third of Anaheim’s population of 260,000, represent the largest minority group in the city but have never held a City Council seat.

“Anaheim is such a large city, and the problems and needs are different for those who live in Anaheim Hills as opposed to west Anaheim,” Ehrle said. “If we don’t put it on the ballot to adopt, the courts are going to dictate it.”

The proposal for single-member districts is one of three major government reforms under consideration by the City Council. Also scheduled for discussion tonight are moves to put limits on the number of terms council members may hold office and on the amount of money candidates may collect and spend during campaigns for municipal office.

Of the three issues, the districting plan could prove most controversial. Other council members have already expressed strong reservations about the plan, which they say could create vast political differences in the city.

“The plain, unvarnished truth is that it becomes a division kind of a thing,” said Councilman Bob D. Simpson, generally an Ehrle ally. “Anaheim is still a small enough city where council members can represent the entire city. This only leads to the kind of government that I am opposed to.”

Simpson said he fears that such a plan would tie council members too closely to specific geographical regions and make them less responsive to the overall needs of the city. Although Latinos have not been represented at the council level, Simpson said nothing within the city’s political process has served to block a potential candidacy.

When the Hispanic committee made its request to the council last month, Councilman Tom Daly said he also believed that the current system did not discriminate against Latino candidates, but added that the districting proposal was worthy of discussion.

Ehrle said the proposal would require an amendment to the City Charter and approval by city voters.

Under the plan, Ehrle said four members of the council would run for election in geographical districts, while the remaining member--the mayor--would continue to be elected at large.

Ehrle said the city’s needs have become increasingly diverse, largely because of its growth in the affluent Anaheim Hills and in the surging immigrant population downtown and in west Anaheim.

“In the hills you have the problems of transportation, crowding and the lack of police and fire services,” the councilman said. “In the central city and west Anaheim, you have a large Hispanic population and the needs of schooling to be addressed.

“Single-member districts give those people a person to look to for leadership. It brings the representative closer to the people.”

Even though recent estimates of Latino registered voters put their number at only about 10% of Anaheim’s total, David said, districting represents an effort to bring fairness to the political process and provides an avenue for greater minority participation.

“I believe that once (Latinos) see the possibilities created by this, they will be flocking to the polls.”